Word Wednesday:
Korean Poet Kim So Wol's Mountain Flower (Korean to English and French) Translation and Analysis
Today is Word Wednesday, meaning I'm going to translate something into a different language. I'm a multilingual girl & I can speak Korean, English, French, and Spanish. I'm still in the middle of improving French and Spanish, but that's not important right now... because today I chose a Korean poem! Let's start before I bore you to death with more facts about me.
Korean (original) version:
산유화(山有花)
by 김소월
산에는 꽃 피네
꽃이 피네
갈 봄 여름 없이
꽃이 피네
산에
산에
피는 꽃은
저만치 혼자서 피어 있네
산에서 우는 작은 새요
꽃이 좋아
산에서
사노라네
산에는 꽃 지네
꽃이 지네
갈 봄 여름 없이
꽃이 지네
꽃이 피네
갈 봄 여름 없이
꽃이 피네
산에
산에
피는 꽃은
저만치 혼자서 피어 있네
산에서 우는 작은 새요
꽃이 좋아
산에서
사노라네
산에는 꽃 지네
꽃이 지네
갈 봄 여름 없이
꽃이 지네
English Version:
Mountain Flower
by Kim So Wol
There are flowers blooming in the mountain
Flowers are blooming
It does not matter if it is Autumn, Spring, or Summer
Flowers are blooming
In the mountain
In the mountain
The awakening flowers
Are blooming there by itself
The little bird that cries in the mountain,
Because it likes the flower
In the mountain
It lives
There are flowers withering in the mountain
Flowers are withering
It does not matter if it is Autumn, Spring, or Summer
Flowers are withering
Overall thought:
The beautiful thing about language are the slangs and unique words. As you know, some languages have words that just don't exist in other languages and have slangs that just don't work in the same way when translated. Let me show you some examples:
갈: This means Autumn. Usually, Autumn is spelled like " 가을 " but the author used a slang version to make this word have one syllable.
사노라네: This is a phrase that was used in the olden days in Korea. It's like Shakespearean's poetic way of speaking -- but the Korean version. This means: to live.
If you really think about it, almost every poem has these slangs, right?
Overall, I thought this poem was simple and beautiful. East Asian poems tend to about nature. A lot of Asian poets write about flowers, trees, ponds, and animals. Even if what the poets are trying to convey is not about nature, they include some bit of it in their poems.
Analysis:
There is a sad connotation in this poem. In my opinion, I felt very lonely when I was reading this poem. I thought about the two major steps in our life cycle: birth and death. When the flowers are blooming, life is being born. It doesn't matter what weather it is; life is constantly happening. As life grows, it goes through many other events. With life comes loneliness and friendship (the little bird that lives in the mountain with the flower)...then eventually, death. It doesn't matter what weather it is; life will die.
Chronology -
As you can see, the poem goes in chronological order; birth, life, and then death. This allows the readers to think about their own life, thus comparing the flower to their own selves. In addition, by going in chronological order, the poem has a very gloomy, sad and lonely feeling/tone. This poem would be different if it started with death and ended with life.
Repetition -
Repetition is frequent in this poem. The most important one is the first stanza and the last one. They're both the same, except the first one is about the flowers blooming and the last one is about the flowers dying. This repetition gives the poem a very powerful effect, saying that life and death are not that different.
Korean Analysis:
운율 (verse): 7.5조, 3음보 율격
꽃 : 모든 생명체 (All life)
꽃 피네: 생명의 생성 (Life's birth)
꽃 지네: 생명의 소멸 (Life's death)
< Bonus >
French version
Fleur de montagne
by Kim So Wol
Il y a des fleurs fleurissent dans la montagne
Les fleurs sont en fleurs
L'automne, de printmeps, d'ete, ce n'est pas grave
Les fleurs sont en fleurs
Dans la montagne
Dans la montagne
Les fleurs sont en fleurs, seul
Le petit oiseau qui crie dans la montagne,
Parce qu'il aime la fleur,
Il vit dans la montagne
Il y a des fleurs mourant dans la montagne
Les fleurs sont en deperissent
L'automne, de printmeps, d'ete, ce n'est pas grave
Les fleurs sont en deperissent
Please feel free to tell me if there are any grammatical mistakes in my translation! I'm still learning and I know I make mistakes, but this was to give my French skills a shot!
What did you think of this poem? Leave a comment & tell me what you think!
